Which upgrade route?

Hi - I'd really welcome some upgrade advice from people who know.

Current system is a dual core E6750 with 2gb RAM and an nVidia 8800GT
(320mb version.)

I'm looking at upgrading on a relatively modest budget but am not sure
whether to update the video card or the processor.

The machine is mostly used for gaming, especially rFactor and other
racing sims.

I've looked at the GTX260 card and figured I could just about stretch to
one, but don't know if it'll be beyond the requirements of the rest of
the machine. I've also seen a lot of 9800GTX+ cards around for about
half the money. Top budget is around £200.

I'm running a 1680x1050 Samsung monitor, and would really like to be
able to crank everything up to full, if that's a realistic expectation.

Would appreciate any advice - and thanks for reading this far!

Cheers,
Rick.

"Rick Catton" wrote in message
...
Hi - I'd really welcome some upgrade advice from people who know.

Current system is a dual core E6750 with 2gb RAM and an nVidia 8800GT
(320mb version.)

I'm looking at upgrading on a relatively modest budget but am not sure
whether to update the video card or the processor.

The machine is mostly used for gaming, especially rFactor and other racing
sims.

I've looked at the GTX260 card and figured I could just about stretch to
one, but don't know if it'll be beyond the requirements of the rest of the
machine. I've also seen a lot of 9800GTX+ cards around for about half the
money. Top budget is around £200.

I'm running a 1680x1050 Samsung monitor, and would really like to be able
to crank everything up to full, if that's a realistic expectation.

Would appreciate any advice - and thanks for reading this far!

I just upgraded my E8400 system from an overclocked G92 8800GT 512Mb to an
eVGA GTX 260 SSC 896Mb card. Synthetic benchmarks up by 35-45%. Actual
gaming framerates up by 40-70% depending upon the game. Card is vastly
quieter and cooler. A huge difference in DX10 on newer titles like Fallout
3 and Far Cry2. My only criticism ( and it's not a fault, really) is that
the card is massive and a lot longer in comparison to an 8800GT. My Antec
180 case required surgery. I had to move the SATA drive bay back by over one
inch to get it to fit. No big deal if you're the least bit handy.. If you
only had two drives in the case (I have 4) you could have simply removed the
SATA drive bay slideout and run the drives in the lower bay. My
opinion....go with the GTX 260....it's a big jump from the old style 8800GT
320Mb.

"Augustus" wrote in message
news:vUnnl.12645$Db2.6738@edtnps83

[...]

I just upgraded my E8400 system from an overclocked G92 8800GT 512Mb
to an eVGA GTX 260 SSC 896Mb card. Synthetic benchmarks up by
35-45%. Actual gaming framerates up by 40-70% depending upon the
game. Card is vastly quieter and cooler. A huge difference in DX10
on newer titles like Fallout 3 and Far Cry2. My only criticism ( and
it's not a fault, really) is that the card is massive and a lot
longer in comparison to an 8800GT. My Antec 180 case required
surgery.

It is a fault, really. It's really bad design. The Antec 180 case isn't
exactly small (my partner has the 182SE case and the 8800GTX fits in with a
bit to spare). Building cards bigger than that is just moronic.

It is a fault, really. It's really bad design. The Antec 180 case isn't
exactly small (my partner has the 182SE case and the 8800GTX fits in with
a bit to spare). Building cards bigger than that is just moronic.

I was surprised by the sheer size and length of the card. As you say, the
Antec 180 series case is pretty big as it is. It didn't occur to me to
measure due to this. At least they put the twin PCIe power plugs on the side
of the brute and not on the back.

Thanks to all for replies. Will look into each of these this weekend.

"DRS" wrote in message
...
"Augustus" wrote in message
news:vUnnl.12645$Db2.6738@edtnps83

[...]

I just upgraded my E8400 system from an overclocked G92 8800GT 512Mb
to an eVGA GTX 260 SSC 896Mb card. Synthetic benchmarks up by
35-45%. Actual gaming framerates up by 40-70% depending upon the
game. Card is vastly quieter and cooler. A huge difference in DX10
on newer titles like Fallout 3 and Far Cry2. My only criticism ( and
it's not a fault, really) is that the card is massive and a lot
longer in comparison to an 8800GT. My Antec 180 case required
surgery.

It is a fault, really. It's really bad design. The Antec 180 case isn't
exactly small (my partner has the 182SE case and the 8800GTX fits in with
a bit to spare). Building cards bigger than that is just moronic.


I too have that eVGA card in a P182 case. The real pain is that the
SATA connectors on an ASUS P6T Dlx MB are stacked sideways,
at the edge of the board, and underneath the GTX260 which has to
be removed for access to the SATA connectors.

opinion....go with the GTX 260....it's a big jump from the old style 8800GT
320Mb.- Hide quoted text -

Is the 260 really cool and quiet ? My eVGA 8800 was noisy
and hot as fire .. impossible to play games and not hear
the fan screaming .. temps going over 100 C. I did a lot
of research, and finally found a way to install a Zalman
cooler with a quiet fan, and actually got the transistor
heat sinks to stick.

No way will I go through a noisy hot card like that again.
I wonder if a google search on "noisy nVidia 260" will
go like it always does ? Hot noisy cards and everybody
disappointed and mad ?

johns

disappointed and mad ?

Yep. Tom's hardware. The 260 is stupidly noisy and
annoying. Don't buy this POS. You'll hate it after a
gaming session, and the vendor will just laugh at you.

It'll cost you another $150 to quieten this piece of crap,
and you'll probably find you don't have room for the Zalman
in most cases.

Want to have some fun? Call up a vendor and ask them
how to quieten and cool your new 260. Get the old, "We've
not had any complaints about that."

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...0,1953-26.html

Want to have some fun? Call up a vendor and ask them
how to quieten and cool your new 260. Get the old, "We've
not had any complaints about that."

I called EVGA customer service, and just like I said,
first thing out of his mouth, "We've had no complaints
about that." Sure EVGA ! I really appreciate your
new fantastic Customer Service lying to me.

So, what ever video card you buy in the nVidia line,
be sure to add in the cost of the Zalman cooler. And
I recommend an external speed controller to knob it
down to about 800 rpm. Plus, the only way to clean
off the transistor goop is to use fingernail polish
remover. If you don't do that, the transistor heat sinks
included with the Zalman kit will fall off.

johns

"johns" wrote in message ...
Want to have some fun? Call up a vendor and ask them
how to quieten and cool your new 260. Get the old, "We've
not had any complaints about that."

I called EVGA customer service, and just like I said,
first thing out of his mouth, "We've had no complaints
about that." Sure EVGA ! I really appreciate your
new fantastic Customer Service lying to me.

That line is part of everyone's support scripts these days. But it's
relative. I mean compared to ATI-based cards the 2x0s are fairly
quiet and cool. High-end Radeons run hot as hell and sound like
freaking vacuum cleaners.